It had been 48 years since Auburn last defeated a ranked nonconference opponent at home.
In a 66-88 rout of No. 25 Washington, the Tigers’ offensive weapons knew that they could continue the momentum from a win over South Alabama earlier in the week. And with Austin Wiley’s first minutes since March 2017, Auburn Arena added onto its team’s early lead.
With a post-up hook shot by Wiley to cap Auburn’s 14-0 run early in the first half, Washington head coach Mike Hopkins came to realize how difficult the environment could become.
“It’s hard to come from behind in a place like this,” he said. “They’re very aggressive; it’s like the Fourth of July.”
Despite Wiley playing limited minutes, with the five-star center finishing with just five points and one rebound, offensive success came easily for the Tigers.
Auburn would capitalize on defense by scoring 30 points off of 17 Washington turnovers. Samir Doughty had a game-high four steals to go along with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Entering halftime with an 18-point lead, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl told Doughty to stay strong defensively.
“He has that smooth, nice tempo that I love offensively,” Pearl said, “but defensively I have to get him more like me.”
Chuma Okeke led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal.
Following the 22-point victory, Bryce Brown and Doughty said Okeke’s statistical output was a normality to the rest of the team.
“We get that every day,” Brown said. “He does everything for us.”
Brown had 13 points while 3-of-10 from the floor, including 2-of-8 from three.
As four of Auburn’s starting five had double-digit scoring, the Tigers shot 41 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from three. A large portion of Auburn’s early lead came from the offensive glass, with four of Okeke’s six offensive rebounds coming from the first half.
“We were very physical and flew to the glass,” Pearl said. “When you take shots that your teammates know that you are going to take, and those shots are in some rhyme and rhythm, the other guys aren’t going ‘huh.’”
Hidden behind the performances of Okeke and Doughty, Jared Harper quietly finished with 13 points on 3-of-12 shooting in addition to five rebounds and five assists.
Though Harper finished shooting 25 percent from the floor, Pearl said he felt comfortable knowing there were other pieces to carry the offensive load.
“It is a good sign that he doesn’t have to carry us,” Pearl said. “He just didn’t finish the basket. It’s the only thing he didn’t do well.”
In advance of the Maui Invitational next week and potential top-10 matchups, Pearl maintained his confidence in his team.
"If you can beat Washington by 20, you can go to Maui and compete," Pearl said. "I’m very pleased with our effort, our energy, our execution, our understanding. I think the kids are confident in each other and what we’re doing, and they know we have unfinished business."
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